


reaching out, holding on

by ewagan



Series: SASO 2017 Fills [10]
Category: Prince of Stride: Alternative (Anime)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-09
Updated: 2017-07-09
Packaged: 2018-11-29 18:47:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11446860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ewagan/pseuds/ewagan
Summary: Their days are no longer endless and unchanging, open roads stretched before them and theirs for the taking. Tomoe’s been running so long that he’s forgotten how to walk, how to stay.Tomoe learns how to walk again.





	reaching out, holding on

**Author's Note:**

> [prompt here](https://sportsanime.dreamwidth.org/22341.html?thread=12663365#cmt12663365)
> 
> I'd suggest listening to [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNFZ3F4aiV0) while you read. c:

Coming home was a giant leap, a somersault, a trick he hadn’t tried in a long time. There was Riku, but there was also Kyousuke and Heath, and he’s unsure of his footing and his landing now.

The time trials only confirm what he already knew, that they were running towards different things, in different directions. And he doesn’t know how to connect anymore, not even with Kyousuke. But, he supposes, a year apart was enough to change all of them.

Their days are no longer endless and unchanging, open roads stretched before them and theirs for the taking. Tomoe’s been running so long that he’s forgotten how to walk, how to stay.

In the end, it’s Heath who reaches out first, with the same easy smile and open hand he had befriended Tomoe with. And Kyousuke behind him, a silent shadow and unwavering loyalty.

Love the second time around is shy and hesitant, it is learning to walk again. It is changing leaves and cooling weather, opening up again slowly and learning to talk. Kyousuke is the one to slip his hand through Tomoe’s and remind him connections came in many forms, not just through running. They come in wishes carried by the wind, unexpected emails and late night phone calls, in silences stretched over long distances and visits home that turn into long walks by the river near his house.

He finds himself tripping over apologies that Heath and Kyousuke do not accept, Heath brushing them away with a dismissive hand and Kyousuke with a small smile, asking him what was there to forgive. Tomoe doesn’t know how to explain, not the running away nor the distance he’d maintained when he was in America, the not staying, not standing up for Kyousuke. He thinks that there are too many things he has to apologize for, and yet Heath and Kyousuke brush it all aside as easy as breathing. He imagines they talk about him when he is not there, more absent than present in these days, but they also talk to him in the absence of each other, emails full of weird internet slang Tomoe constantly has to look up with Heath, phone calls where silence stretches out with Kyousuke.

Love the second time around is slower and more enduring, bearing distance and mistakes with more grace and patience. It is kinder and more forgiving than Tomoe hopes, until he is more certain of his footing, until he can run again.

There are many things he wants to say, but words have never been his forte. He remembers Kyousuke telling him once that he should not hesitate so much, that the wind will help him. He thinks now Kyousuke meant it in more ways than just stride.

He runs through familiar paths again, sometimes alone, sometimes with Kyousuke. They don’t talk much, instead they let the wind carry their steps, reaching out for that one moment where everything connects, a growing certainty that this was it, that they were finally connecting again.

Heath he talks to in between camera shoots, in dressing rooms and on their walks to the train station, connection a tentative, fragile thing between them. He lets Heath kiss him underneath the zelkova trees, careful and hesitant and familiar, with a smile that Tomoe used to dream about when they had an ocean between them.

Their days are ever changing and unstoppable, time slipping through their fingers like water, but Tomoe has learned to hold on to the things that matter, to reach for the hands that are always waiting for his. Heath’s just a little larger than his but always warm, and Kyousuke’s callused fingers curving into his, connecting, connecting.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are very much appreciated. <3
> 
> You can find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/ewagan)


End file.
